This invention relates generally to vehicle seats and, more particularly, to a seat belt anchor arrangement for transmitting seat belt loads to the vehicle body floor pan.
An example of one form of prior art seat belt anchor for a vehicle seat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,697 issued Jul. 13, 1993 to Borlinghaus et al. The Borlinghaus patent provides a anchorage arrangement for a seat adjuster
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,121 issued Apr. 21, 1992 to Boone entitled Occupant Restraint Belt Anchorage discloses an arrangement for securing a seat belt system for a seat structures adapted to be removably coupled to a vehicle floor.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,453 issued May 4, 1993 to Stedman et al. entitled Add-on Structure For Vehicle Shoulder Belt discloses a belt anchoring arrangement for a convertible-type vehicle rear seat.
These and other prior art systems teach the desirability of transferring the belt load directly to the vehicle sheet metal floor pan adjacent the seat. In the case of a vehicle rear seat, it is desirable to transfer the belt load to the floor pan in a manner causing minimal deformation to the sheet metal. In the case of a vehicle rear seat structure positioned above a floor pan formed with a raised clearance hump, it is desirable to transfer the load, via an elongated anchorage member subjacent the floor, to a rearward frame member.